The Stooges - I Wanna be your Dog (1969) Lyrics Video

Details

Description

HELP US DO OUR WORK, BUY ME A COFFEE!!! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poisonsofrock


Released in June 1969, this track from the Stooges debut album is one of the major reasons they earned the nickname godfathers of punk. The distortion-heavy guitar evokes the sound of hard psychedelic rock bands like Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge, but the stripped-down pounding pulse of the song set an early example for punk in the 1970s.

The repetitive, 3-chord riff and one-note piano pulse that run through the entire song were emulated heavily by punk rockers in New York, London, and the Stooges' hometown of Detroit. The lyrics, while simple, cover a wide variety of topics like drug use, S&M, general disillusionment, angst, and ennui. These topics were explored most notably in the 60s by The Velvet Underground, and founding member of the Velvets John Cale produced and played piano on this song.

By combining the subject matter of the Velvet Underground with the hard edge of late psychedelia, the Stooges created an important link between the New York art rock of the 60s and punk of the 70s. The Stooges' mixture of anger, apathy, and disillusionment, on display in this track, laid the groundwork for the blue collar punk ethos that became particularly important in London punk.

During an appearance on BBC’s “The Late Show” in 1994, Iggy recounted the origin of the lyrics:

[T]he words basically came from me hanging out in my bedroom, just thinking “what would be cool to sing to that riff?” And I thought, “Well, you know, it has to be something big”, you know? The biggest thing I knew about was God–I wasn’t that into singing about God–but then one day I thought, “God, if you turn ‘god’ backwards, what would you have?”



[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1]
So messed up I want you here
In my room I want you here
Now we're gonna be face-to-face
And I'll lay right down In my favorite place

[Chorus]
And now I wanna be your dog
Now I wanna be your dog
Now I wanna be your dog
Well, come on

[Verse 2]
Now I'm ready to close my eyes
And now I'm ready to close my mind
And now I'm ready to feel your hand
And lose my heart on the burning sands

[Chorus]
And now I wanna be your dog
And now I wanna be your dog
Now I wanna be your dog
Well, come on

[Outro]
Uh, uh, uh